Combination brush spacer and support for rotatable pipe cleaning machine brushes



March 7, 1950 M. P. LAURENT COMBINATION BRUSH SPACER AND SUPPORT FORROTATABLE PIPE CLEANING MACHINE BRUSHES Filed June 3, 1946 HF! LAllRE NTIN VEN TOR.

ATTORNEKS- Patented Mar. 7, 1950 UNITED: STATES PATENT orriceCOMBINATION "BRUSH SPACER AND SUP- PORT FOR-ROTATABLE PIPE CLEANINGMACHINE. BRUSHES MiItonP. Laurent, Houston, Tex.

Ap lication June-.3, 1946, Serial No. 67%;9'79 21 Claims. (Cl..1588)The; invention-relates tot-8,1? spaceri for. rotating brushes so astozavoid overloadingand: excessive flexing of the bristles of-thebrush..,

In accomplishingzbrushing operation by. using rotating: brushes, itis.notuncommon that'excessive-pressureis. applied to" the-brush inanattempt to obtain maximum; cuttingor'cleaning action but'it'has, beenfound thatv such excessive pressure results :in-. consequent movementofthe brush towardthe work to such: an extentthat the" bristlesofthe-brush are; bent overan excessi'veamount soythattheydo-not obtainthe desired. whipping; action upon; striking the; work which, resultsin. an efficient operation;

It is" difficult: to accurately adjustsar brush ro.- tating' at high:speed and particularly brushes which travel along the work while thebrushes are rotating: Because the adjustment of the parts are difiicult,the brushes are often subjected to excessive pressure and moved too.close to the work for efiicient operation.

To overcome this, the present invention contemplates a spacer which.will'bear against and roll on the work as the brushes-rotate and .travelso as to form a positive stop for movement of the brush against theworkand to also absorb any pressure beyond thewamount necessary to flexthe bristles of the brush- The invention has alwide application butwill. be here described as particularly applied to rotating brushesusedin the cleaning of pipe. M

It is one of the objects of. the invention to provide aspacer forrotatingbrushes whichwill support any excessive loads beyond thatrequired to properly flex the bristles of the brush and to also spacethe brush the desired distance from the work.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a combinationrotating brush and spacer to support the brush in the proper positionrelative to the work.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a gauge forrotating bristled brushes which will roll on the work and space thebrush relative thereto.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a rotating brushspacer member which can be arranged to wear at the same rate as the wearon the bristles of the brushes so that the desired spacing of the brushrelative to the work is maintained.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a support disc forbrushes so as to avoid undue flexing and injury to the bristle itself.

A still further object of the invention is td provide a device foreffecting wear for'supporting brush: discs at the-same rate of wearasthewear on the bristles occurs.

Other and further objects offthe inventionwill be readily apparent whenthe followingdescription is considered in connection with the :accomapanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view through a rotating brush which hasbeen equipped With'the supporting disc of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation showing the support disc in the brush in;actual operation;

The invention herein described can be applied to the type of: rotatingbrush employed .to travel along a pipe' being cleaned but; may beapplied in many other fields. of brushing;

In Fig. 1 a rotatable shaft 2 is supported in the bearings.3 which areinturn carried by a housing 4. This shaft has a drive pinion 5 thereonwhich receives a fiexible belt" or other driving member 6 so. as toimpart rotation to the shaft; The shaft is outstanding at 8 beyondtheinterbearing 9 and has af xed thereonthe brush units iii and. made up ofthe flanges l2 and it on opposite ends thereof so as to generally clampand retain the metal bristles 59. Each brush is further made up offlanges it andltl" positioned by enlarged collar it on opposite endsthereof to retain and clamp metal bristles it. The enlarged col lar onthe shaft tends to space the respective brushes apartand the nut 22serves to draw the shaft inwardlysoas to confine the fiangeson oppositesides of the brush it while the nut 23 and the retainer pin 24 clamp thebrush H into position.

In Fig. 2 a piece of work 25 such as a pipe having a surface 26 which isto be cleaned has,

been illustrated. This pipe is being brushed by the brushes it and Ilbeing applied thereto by tilting of the housing 4. Suitable pressure isapplied to the housing and the brush to force it against the work whilethe brush is being rotated.

In the copending application referred to, a housing 4 is carried by arotatable cage which travels around the pipe while the brush in turnrotates against the pipe during this traveling movement.

In order to properly space the brushes I!) and l I relative to the workso that the ends 30 of the bristles l9 execute the proper sweepingaction as they contact the surface 26, it is necessary to space the axleof the brushes a proper distance from the work. This proper distancevaries of course upon the amount of cleaning, speed of Each ofthese'bruSh-units is rotation of the brushes, the rate of travel, andvarious other conditions which must be taken into consideration. In manyinstances, it is often necessary to cut and try in order to obtain thedesired spacing of the brush from the surface being cleaned.

The present invention embodies a disc or plate 35 which is shown ashaving been mounted upon a hub flange 36 by the cap screws 31. This hubis fixed to the collar of the shaft and is arthe work and move into aposition where they are ready to leave the work, the bristles will flexor snap outwardly so that they move from the curved position 43 to thestraight position 44 also seen in Fig. 2.

It will be noted that the periphery 40 of the support disc is travelingperipherally at 26 of the pipe to provide a solid or rigid support forthe brush. In this manner, only enough pressure to hold the brush frommoving out by centrifugal force is required and then any additionalpressure is controlled by the disc 35.

Regardless of the amount of pressure applied to the brush, only asuflicient pressure can be applied to the bristles to cause them to flexand execute the desired cleaning action because any additional pressureis taken up by the wheel or disc 35 traveling on the periphery of thepipe.

This arrangement prevents undue flexing, crys tallization, and fatiguein the metal of the bristles and always maintains the bristles inposition to execute the maximum cleaning or cutting action.

The disc may be of any suitable material and is preferably constructedso that it will wear by rolling on the periphery of the work atapproximately the same rate that the metal bristles are subjected towear. In this Way, the brushes and the disc will be used and worn outsimultaneously.

If desired, however, a suitable grinder 50 may be arranged in the formof an abrasive material supported on an arm 5| pivoted at 52 on thehousing 4. This arm may be urged against the periphery 40 of the disc 35by a lever 53 pressing against a spring 54 and adjustable by the capscrew 55 passing through a slot 56 in the heel 51 of the lever 53. Bysuitable adjustment, the desired abrasive action may be applied to theperiphery 40 of the support wheel so as to cause it to wear in unisonwith the wear on the bristles.

As stated heretofore the invention has been described in connection witha rotating pipe cleaning brush" but it seems it may be utilized withvarious types of grinders and in various types of cleaning and brushingequipment.

Broadly the invention contemplates a support or gauge for rotatingbristle brushes to position the brush for the most efficient operation.

What is claimed is:

1. A rotatable circular brush for pipe cleaning machines comprising ashaft, both a cylindrical spring wire bristle brush unit and a spacerdisc of rigid material mounted on said shaft to rotate therewith, saiddisc being of a slightly lesser diameter than said unit to engage thework to be cleaned and retain said shaft a distance from said Work suchthat said bristles are caused to sweep against the work, means to carryand rotate said shaft, and an abrasive member mounted on said means torub against said disc to insure that said disc is maintained worn to aslightly lesser diameter than said unit.

2. In a cleaning device, the combination of, a rotary shaft, both acylindrical brush and a disc slightly smaller in diameter than saidbrush mounted on said shaft for rotation therewith, a housing to supportsaid shaft for rotation, and an abrasive block on said housingadjustably held against said disc to insure that it is maintained wornto a slightly lesser diameter than said brush.

MILTON P.'LAURENT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 339,585 Root Apr. 6, 1886 508,668Bassett Nov. 14, 1893 692,129 Ferguson Jan. 28, 1902 1,521,593 BenjaminJan. 6, 1925 1,576,223 Robbins Mar. 9, 1926 1,809,725 Roe June 9, 19311,990,710 Riebel Feb. 12, 1935 2,293,865 Sykes -1 Aug. 25, 19422,353,125 Carpmail July 11, 1944 2,436,099 Cummings et al Feb. 17, 1948

